With the calendar "creeping toward December," the
Coyotes are still owned by Richard Burke, and "this long-
winded [sale] soap opera is starting to smell like fish
stew," according to Dan Bickley of the ARIZONA REPUBLIC, who
asks Gary Bettman, "Mr. Commissioner, where are you?" On
the "eve of pre-purchase audit requested" by prospective co-
Owner Steve Ellman, Burke "mysteriously dispatched" his CFO,
and by "now Burke's maneuvering is bordering on the absurd,
Ellman still hasn't closed the deal, and the commissioner
needs to come down hard." By placing his CFO on leave "just
as the sale nears completion, Burke has raised the bar of
suspicion to unprecedented levels. He is either a man
looking to stall, a man with something to hide or a man in
need of a long vacation." Bickley: "As Ellman inches to the
finish line ... it is possible that Burke really believes he
can win this battle, that he can scare off Ellman's
investors, sabotage the sale from a hundred different angels
and emerge from the fray on New Year's Day with a hockey
team headed to Portland. ... It's time for Bettman to take
off the gloves" (ARIZONA REPUBLIC, 11/10).
